Monk's Cowl peaks (Drakensberg) Jun 2006

After work, I picked Gordon up at his home and we drove to Bergville where we spent the night at the tennis court.

Day 1 (10 June): We left Bergville before 6am and were at Monk’s Cowl just after 7am. We paid, signed in and started hiking just before 8am. Immediately we started climbing up the trail towards the Sphinx. Our packs were not too heavy and without realizing it, we were making very good time. We stopped for a breather at the top of the Sphinx and then carried on to the first water crossing below Verkykerkop, already on top of the Little Berg. A dog had started following us soon after we left and kept bounding past us, chasing after rabbits and rats. Just before 10am we reached Blind Man’s Corner and just around the corner we dropped our packs 50m above the campsite, out of view from the contour path. We were ecstatic that we got there so quickly but not quite sure what to expect higher up on Sterkhorn. Packing water, lunch, camera, GPS, warm clothes, map and route description, we left at about 10:15. I was happy to see that the track up Sterkhorn was indeed a good one and pretty easy to follow. The only difficulty was that the path was exceptionally steep and the dirt very loose in places. Stopping often for breathers we finally stopped for an early lunch at around 11:30 at an altitude of 2795m. The dog was still with us and tried in vain to dig for rats under the rocks. After lunch we started to save water as both of us were starting to run low. The path continued steeply up the east ridge until finally ascending to a small saddle above 2850m. Doing some scrambling above the saddle got us onto a ledge that traversed around to the south where a wormhole led to the summit ridge. Here the dog finally gave up following us and we clambered onto the small summit with no little elation. It was a fantastic view all around and the middle and south summits were barely meters away. Behind Sterkhorn we could see Cathkin and Monks Cowl. To the north we could see the entire Cathedral range and the Amphitheatre peaks beyond. To the south, Giant’s Castle just poked its nose out on the horizon. We stayed for at least 20 minutes, relishing the view and watching some Cape vultures soaring on the thermals. We finally started descending and picked the dog up again below the wormhole. I stuck to the track on the descent and made good time. Gordon was more careful on the way down but we joined up again during two rest stops. We were back at the campsite at 3pm and rested a while before starting to set up camp. At 4pm we started cooking. I made a similar slop to what Rob made on the guided traverse earlier the year: onions and peppers fried with bully beef, adding Smash until thick. It went down well and we even spared a little for the dog, who still hadn’t left us. After dinner we settled into our sleeping bags. We didn’t pitch the tents and figured the trees would protect us from frost during the night.

Day 2 (11 June): It wasn’t cold at all during the night, having dropped only to 0.4 degrees. Which was a good thing for the dog as I don’t think it would have survived temperatures much below zero. We ate and packed up quickly. At 07:30 we were walking. Having thought about climbing Turret and/or Amphlett the previous day, I gave up the idea after seeing the peaks from the top of Sterkhorn. Instead I aimed to climb Matterhorn, at least 3km distant from the path leading down from Blind Man’s Corner. We quickly got to the first stream running down into the valley where we sat the previous day. We dropped the packs and started climbing Verkykerskop, which was immediately in front of us. Although steep, we got to the summit quickly, where a white cross was also plunged into a cairn like at the top of Sterkhorn. We took a couple of pictures before descending down to a track we could see running through a burned patch of grass. The track turned out to be a good path. As Matterhorn drew nearer, the track disappeared and the last few hundred meters we had to struggle through thick grass. We got to the trig beacon at 09:15, took a GPS reading and photos and then started walking back. I was back at the packs at exactly 10am with Gordon about 5 minutes behind me. With the packs back on our backs we walked down the last 3km. We stopped quickly for a rest at the Sphinx but I went ahead after that. The dog came running with me but I lost it as I walked through the last forest above Monks Cowl. Back at the car I went for a shower and Gordon arrived shortly after me.